starchaser

The Starchaser entry looks reliable and well thought out. With the success of Nova and the Nova 2 capsule landing the launch of Thunderbird on schedule appears realistic. These guys seem to do things at the right speed to ensure correct results. They've got to be on the hot list for winning, or at least providing a safe service after the fact.

To be honest I think all the teams have to work to their own schedule and get it right rather than rushing to beat someone else's launch date; it could all go horribly wrong for those who launch too early.

I agree 100%. I think I'd be more willing to ride in Starchaser's vehicle than any of the other competitors'. Maybe my impression is wrong but Starchaser seems more focused on developing a vehicle meant for regular trips by paying tourists rather than some hastily assembled two time wonder. Most of the other teams have kept tight lipped about their long range plans after the X-prize, if they have any, and the future of their vehicles.

According to www.starchaser.co.uk, Starchaser successfully tested their Mk II engine today, October 7. This is a major milestone in their quest to build the full-scale Mk III engine they need for the Thunderbird.

Rutan will win the X-Prize, but it'll be nice to see three or four teams catching up with him in 2004! Imagine this: Rutan, Armadillo, Canadian, da Vinci, and Starchaser all fly a few times in 2004, and the shuttle flies twice. Now that's a paradigm shift! (Even if suborbital is a long way from orbital...)

Starchaser have continued to test their Churchill Mk II engine this week and it is awesome. The engine looked good as new after the firing, and coupled with their recent drop test success, I have every confidence in their ability to make commercial space access a reality. Well done SC!!

Unfortunately, the $10 million is going to go to someone else, not Starchaser. They are proceeding too slowly and don't have enough time to catch up to teams like Scaled Composites.

On the other hand, I applaud their judgement in not planning to launch untill Q3 2004, as it would be ludicrious and/or suicide to try to rush things and slap together a pile of junk rather than playing it safe and making sure that everything works. I can tell that they're not dragging their heels, they're making excellent progress in fact, but at the same time Starchaser is methodically checking out every system to make sure that they have a perfect launch vehicle. I think we have a winner, if not in the short term than in the long.

_________________"Yes, that series of words I just said made perfect sense!"
-Professor Hubert Farnsworth

Since space ship one displayed some serious problems in its last flight, problems of the type minor tweaking won't fix. I believe Starchaser is more in the running than anyone, Arnadillo is up against a wall with their catalyst and DaVinci seem to be only a marketing machine with no real substance. So unless you believe in flying saucers I wouldn't write off Starchaser, Their technology is proven and robust, all they need is time.

I know Americans are full of patriotic fervour with Space Ship One (and why not!?) but I think that the suggestions of immenent victory are a little premature. Sending people into space is a risky business and unless things are done slowely and properly fatal errors can easily occur. A stategy of complete perfectionism with an emphasis on safety is necessary, or all that will be broadcast around the world will be a rather unimpressive explosion.

Scaled Composites have generated an air of professionalism that can lead people to making too many assumptions about their success. I think their launch window is far too early to be realistic.

I live in nw england and therefore starchaser appear on local tv news from time to time - launches, engine tests etc. The coverage was usually of the mildly eccentric hobbyist builds model rockets mocking style. Although they had difficulty mocking the Nova launch

I went along to one of their factory open days and from this found my way to this web site.

I was very impressed with what they appear to have achieved and the way the seem to be going about it. They are certainly very serious about this.

The impression I got was that the one thing that will hold them back in the xprize entry is constantly having to scrape together the funds. They appear to have kept things going on a very tight budget through membership, open days, education visits, limited sponsorship and volunteers. Whilst this is a very open grass roots approach, I couldn't help feeling if they were taken more seriously they might get the backing to give them a fair crack. Any multimillionaires reading this please give the starchaser guys a call?!!

Whatever, I think these guys are going to space sooner or later and good luck to them they deserve it